Springs Basket Defeats Indiana
February 15, 2017

The decision by Minnesota guard Akeem Springs, who was having a terrible game, to follow his own missed shot paid dividends for the Gophers as he subsequently scored the winning basket with seconds remaining to topple Indiana, 75-74, at Williams Arena.

Before his heroics, Springs, a volume shooter, had missed a dozen shots including six from three-point range. With 17 seconds remaining and Indiana up by one, Springs was the last Gopher coach Richard Pitiono wanted to shoot the ball. During the timeout, Pitino drew up a play that had freshman Amir Coffey taking the winning shot. When that play broke down, Springs was forced to jack up a shot from three-point land. Naturally his shot missed, but Eric Curry tapped the rebound to his onrushing teammate, Springs, who scored with 3.2 seconds remaining on the clock. Then, a three-point heave by the Hoosiers’ James Blackmon missed its mark, and Minnesota was victorious.

“It felt good to contribute after such a tough game,” Springs said after the game. “I think every shot I take is going to drop.” He finished with four points, 26 fewer than his partner at the guard position, Nate Mason.

Mason’s 30 points topped all scorers, followed by Blackmon’s 22. For the Gophers, Coffey has 17 and Jordan Murphy 14. The latter also pulled down 15 rebounds. However, the Hoosiers out-rebounded Minnesota 51 to 44.

In a game lacking artistry, the lead changed hands nine times and was tied six times. Minnesota led at halftime 33-29, but lost the lead when Juwan Morgan scored to give Indiana the lead at 50-49. With seven minutes left in the period, the Hoosiers led 60-56, much to the dismay of the 11,658 in attendance.

Indiana led 65-60 after a Blackmon three-pointer with four and one-half minutes to go. Coffey cut the lead to 69-67 with two minutes left, and a pair of Murphy free throws gave Minnesota a 71-70 lead with a minute left.

Murphy fouled Thomas Bryant with 17 seconds to go, and Bryant sank two free throws for Indiana’s final points.

Both teams shot horribly from the floor in the first half. Minnesota missed on 24 of 34 shots, and the Hoosiers were 11 for 37. Minnesota improved to 24 for 62 for the game. The Hoosiers, meanwhile, shot 40 percent in the second half.

Indiana scored 24 points off offensive rebounds to 14 for the Gophers, who play Michigan at home Sunday.